April I, 1916 T,7i 



1/ 

 esculenta.) Fairly coninion in moist rich ground, open woods 



and fields, Scllwood, Milwaukic, Happy Hollow road, etc. In 

 our limits the leaves arc usually one-fourth to half inch wide, 

 while in fronthern Oregon lliey are frequently found one inch 

 wide. April, May; dark to light blue. 



-'-^ As the tunicated bulbs (about five-eighls to one inch or 

 more in diamcltr) of this plant formed the chief source of vege- 

 table diet among the Indian tiibesof the whole northwest before 

 the advent of the while nian, a short description of the usual 

 method of preparation as witi:essed by pioneers in Yamhill 

 county, Oregon, and in Thurston county, Washington, in the 

 early fifties, may not be out of place here. 



In early August, two or three days before the time set for 

 the cooking, the klooches and children v»'ere sent to the nearest 

 glade or meadow in which the plants grew in abundance, and a 

 large pile of the bulbs were collected. An experienced man of 

 the tribe was selected as chef, and in the early morning of the 

 day appointed, a trench 3 to 4 feet wide by 6 to 10 feet long and 

 about 2^ feet deep was dug, a layer of small stones and pebbles 



4 to 6 inches deep was placed in the bottom and a Are built 

 ihereon until the stones weie quite hot. The embers were then 

 removed, while in the meantime, amid energetic commands of 

 "hNak," "liyak," from ilie chef, the klooches and children hrd 

 qnickly collected a pile of bracken and ferns, which were plactd 

 upon the hot stones and pressed down evenly until a mat about 



5 inches deep wa> formed. UpoiTlhis mat of bracken a laver of 

 the bnlbs 6 to 8 inches deep was promptly laid, a thin layer of 

 bracken 3 to 4 inches thick placed above it, then a thin laver of 

 hot stones from an adjacent fire was added and ths process re- 

 peated until (usually) 3 la\ers of bulbs had been placed in the 

 pit and covered with a heavy layer of bracken and thin layer of 

 hot stones. The last was overlaid with a thin mat of bracken 

 and the wliole covered with a layer of earth 5 inches thick and 

 left undistnihed for about 24 hours, wdien the cooking was com- 

 pleted. The whole process was simply an aboriginal application 

 of ilie "fireless cooker," and a very effective one for the purpose 

 in \iew. The cooked bulbs, which were white when placed in 



